No. 3 Cal improves to 2-0 at home

Roundup: Penn State rallies from 2-0 deficit to top No. 2 USC

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Bolstered by a .519 attack percentage in set three, No. 3 California earned its second sweep in as many days, taking down Fairfield 25-12, 25-15, 25-14. Senior Tarah Murrey tallied a match-high 11 kills while Robin Rostratter had 18 digs for the Golden Bears (2-0), dropping the Stags to 0-2.

Junior setter Elly Barrett had 31 assists and four kills (7 att, 1 e, .429) while Correy Johnson hit .583 with seven kills in 12 attempts with no errors. As a team, the Bears had 10 stops at the net, compared to Fairfield's two. Both Shannon Hawari and Barrett tallied four block assists.

No. 1 Penn State 3, No. 2 Southern California 2 -- Full Recap
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Trailing 2-0 heading into the intermission, Penn State was on the verge of falling to 0-2 to start the season for the first time ever. The top-ranked Nittany Lions avoided that label as they rallied for a 3-2 (21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-8) victory against No. 2 Southern California.

All-American Deja McClendon led the charge, posting a match-high 25 kills on .321 hitting with seven digs. Katie Slay added 12 kills and six block assists, helping PSU to 18.5 total team blocks while holding USC to .265 hitting. Alex Jupiter had 22 kills for the Women of Troy, who hit just .095 in the fifth set as the four-time defending champions iced the home victory.

No. 3 California 3, Florida International 0
BERKELEY -- No. 3 California ended its season-opening weekend in the same manner in which it began -- with a sweep. On Saturday night, the Golden Bears made quick work of Florida International in three sets by a score of 25-23, 25-16, 25-15 to win the 2011 Cal Molten Classic as the only team to go undefeated.

Junior Correy Johnson paced the Bears with 12 kills. Adrienne Gehan and Shannon Hawari added 10 kills apiece with Hawari hitting a team-high .533. Junior Robin Rostratter registered 14 digs while Tarah Murrey was right behind her with eight of her own in addition to six kills.

Adams committed just three errors on 23 swings against Ole Miss and added seven blocks and a career-best three service aces. Freshman outside hitter Haley Eckerman joined her in double figures with 11 kills and chipped in three block assists, while sophomore middle blocker Haley Cameron posted eight kills on 18 error-free swings and hit .444.

No. 5 Nebraska 3, New Mexico 0
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Fifth-ranked Nebraska finished a perfect weekend at the MCM Elegante Lobo Classic on Saturday night with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17) sweep of New Mexico. The Huskers opened the event on Friday with a come-from-behind win against New Mexico State 3-2.

Gina Mancuso totaled 11 kills on the night to lead the Huskers. Morgan Broekhuis and Hannah Werth each had 10 kills while Lauren Cook notched 40 assists and 12 digs to lead NU.

No. 6 Stanford 3, Delaware 0
HOUSTON, Texas -- Sixth-ranked Stanford swept Delaware 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-21) on Saturday in the season opener at the Rice Invitational. The Cardinal moved to 1-0 on the year, while the Blue Hens fell to 1-1.

Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Williams set a career high with 13 kills, while finishing with eight digs. Sophomore middle blocker Carly Wopat also registered new career highs with nine blocks and eight digs. Junior setter Karissa Cook controlled the offense with 32 assists and nine digs while junior libero Hannah Benjamin finished with a team-high 11 digs.

No. 7 Washington 3, No. 22 Long Beach State 1
No. 7 Washington 3, UMBC 0
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Despite a major struggle in the middle part of the match, seventh-ranked Washington rallied on the home court of No. 22 Long Beach State to pull through for the 3-1 victory against the 49ers in front of 1,862 fans at the Walter Pyramid. The Huskies (3-0) faced multiple set points in the third set but rallied back to take the set and then ran away in the fourth to capture the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational. Washington defeated UMBC in straight sets earlier Saturday.

Krista Vansant led the way with 12 kills and 11 digs for her first double-double, but it was the defenses that dominated as Washington won despite hitting just .140 for the match, while LBSU was limited to just .090 on offense. But the Huskies boosted that number by clicking in the fourth set with a .519 mark. The back-and-forth battle went to the Huskies 25-13, 13-25, 29-27, 25-11.

No. 8 Illinois 3, UC Santa Barbara 0
No. 8 Illinois 3, St. Mary's (Calif.) 0
PROVO, Utah -- Eighth-ranked Illinois (3-0) won the BYU/Nike Invitational title behind a pair of victories on Saturday. The Fighting Illini first took care of St. Mary's, a team receiving votes in the first AVCA Coaches poll, in 80 minutes by the score of 25-17, 25-15, 25-21. Then the Illini bounced back from dropping the first set to top UCSB, 19-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-18.

Illinois hit .270 overall in three matches on the weekend and averaged 3.10 blocks per set. Michelle Bartsch and Colleen Ward each had 40 kills in three victories while junior Annie Luhrsen averaged 11.80 assists per set in her first starts at setter. Bartsch had nine over 13 blocks in the victory against St. Mary's. Opponents hit just .102 against the Illini in the three matches.

The Illini's middle blockers were strong. Redshirt freshman Anna Dorn had 15 block assists, added 14 kills and hit .520 in her first career weekend as a starter. Junior Erin Johnson, meanwhile, hit .426 with 25 kills and 13 blocks.

Senior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell was named the Tournament MVP with 13 kills on the evening to give her 20 kills on the weekend, in addition to a .381 hitting percentage. Also named to the All-Tournament team were senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel, who had her first double-double of the 2011 season with 12 kills and 10 digs; senior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy who narrowly missed a triple-double with an errorless eight kills, a match-high 20 assists and seven digs; and redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe, who had 19 digs on the weekend and was errorless on serve receive against the Tar Heels.

Three Rainbow Wahine posted double figure kills led by Kanani Danielson with 16 to go along with a team-high 14 digs. Jane Croson recorded 14 kills and 13 digs, and Brittany Hewitt added 12 kills and four digs. Emily Adney led WSU with 12 kills and Sarah Waldorf added a match-high 18 digs.

The 'Bows faltered in the first set as Wichita State took the lead with a 25-21 win. Hawaii responded with a second-set win to even the match. UH was too much for Wichita State in the final two sets, winning by scores of 25-19 and 25-18.